Volatile circuitry is circuitry which does not retain its stored information when the main power supply to the circuitry is interrupted. Non-volatile circuitry can retain stored information even when the power supply to the circuitry has been interrupted. It is possible to configure volatile circuitry to operate as non-volatile circuitry by providing a backup power supply mechanism to the volatile circuitry. For example, powered volatile circuitry could have a first connection to a power supply source and a second connection to a battery. In the event that the power supply source became unable to provide power to the powered volatile circuitry, the connected battery would begin providing power for the circuitry. This requires some type of intelligent switching circuitry for sensing the difference between the voltage of the battery and the connected power supply and then switching between the connected power supply and the connected battery based upon such sensing operation. When a battery is connected to the powered volatile circuitry, there may arise situations where the battery is incorrectly connected to the associated powered volatile circuitry or when the supply terminal may be shorted to ground. It is important in these situations that some type of circuitry be present to protect the battery from adverse effects when conditions such as these occur. Therefore, there is a need for battery protection circuitry operable with a switching device for interconnecting a connected power supply and connected battery to powered volatile circuitry.